• Home
• Back

FTC cracking down on bloggers, social media

Bloggers, and budding social media marketing gurus on Twitter and Facebook will soon have to fess up if their endorsements and product touts are bought and paid for before they're written.

Rules covering testimonials in advertising and product endorsements that have been in place since 1980 will soon be modified to include bloggers and social media.

According to a New York Times report on the change, after Dec. 1, bloggers who review products must disclose any connection with advertisers, including, in most cases, the receipt of free products and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers, as occurs frequently. The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter. A second major change, which was not aimed specifically at bloggers or social media, was to eliminate the ability of advertisers to gush about results that differ from what is typical - for instance, from a weight loss supplement.

It's about time.

I have to admit I've had a few offers to guarantee good product plugs on a foodie blog 2cheap2eatout I pay with. I've never been that tempted to respond. But I've read about bloggers who sell good products reviews and need helpers to cart all the goodies they get. They can still do that after next month, but they'll need to disclose it.

Disclosure isn't the biggest underlying issue here. The thing to pay attention to is the trend that government is intent on "bringing to bear on the Internet the same sorts of regulations that have governed other forms of media, like television or print."

Here's how Richard Cleland, assistant director of the division of advertising practices at the FTC, summed it up for the Times: "We were looking and seeing the significance of social media marketing in the 21st century and we thought it was time to explain the principles of transparency and truth in advertising and apply them to social media marketing."

There's no way around the fact that social media as well as blogs, offer companies and individuals new opportunities with a new medium to pitch products. They've taken huge chunks of what used to be print advertising. Some predict they'll take more. There's also much truth in the assumption that those pitches and endorsements come with a veneer of authenticity because on the surface them seem to be coming straight from consumers. Simply put, those who have engaged in that are running a scam and some transparency is needed.

Yes, there are some product review blogs that are transparent about what they do - the best example is Consumer Reports/ But they are up-front about what they do so they're fostered a trusted brand. Unfortunately they're outnumbered by the Wild, Wild West cowboys and cowgirls of Web marketing.

None of this should be a surprise to the players. The FTC telegraphed the move months ago. But step back and take a longer trend look at what's happening on the Web. You'll find a moderating influence at work.

For example, there's a slow, but steady, stream of legal actions that providing a reality bite to the bloggers and story comment mavens who shoot from the lip (keyboard). The trend message that libel laws also pertain to online communications should be getting through.

Wouldn't it be interesting the same transparency were applied to political speech and advertising where candidates have a legal right to lie to voters as much as they want.

Johnson City Press

TriCityHomes

TriCityJobs

TriCityWheels

TriCityMoms

GoTriCities

Worship

Living Here

Coupons

© 2012 Kingsport Publishing Corporation Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Contact Us